


Butterfly Effect

by commander_of_grey



Series: A Shadow is a True Self [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Appearances from Ken Amada and Nanako Dojima because I can, Everyone is a lot more involved in each-others' social link events, F/F, F/M, Kind of sort of canon-compliant but also not, Lots of Akira Introspection, Multi, Shiho has a much larger role to play because I think she's a badass, long work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-05-01 22:44:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19186819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commander_of_grey/pseuds/commander_of_grey
Summary: He saw her, and in doing so changed their reality.And like a tiny butterfly flapping its wings may cause a devastating hurricane, her existence sent ripples across history, altering the course of events in a way neither of them could have predicted.But to Akira, all Phantom Thieves were family, even the ones that were never meant to exist.Or: Phantom Thieves have more members, the black-masked villain isn't acting alone, and everyone is still up to their usual shenanigans.





	1. A Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes, a few kind words are all a tired high-schooler needs to not completely give up on life.

**4/11  
**Afternoon****

‘Be good,’ they said. ‘Keep your nose down, and don’t get in trouble for a year. Then, your parole will end, and we can all pretend none of this ever happened. That’s the least you can do for us after getting involved in this mess.’

_This mess_. Those words infuriated Akira. His father had made it sound like the whole thing was his fault – like he was guilty for trying to save that poor woman from being forced into something against her will. Theirs was a small town. He _knew_ that woman, had said hello to her on the bus every morning on the way to school. So, was he supposed to walk away, then? Pretend like nothing happened, and continue seeing her every day like nothing was wrong?

That’s what his father seemed to think, anyways. The same man who had once taught Akira the meaning of justice, was now telling him not to get involved. It didn’t sit right with the boy. Not in the slightest.

After almost a month in a cell, Akira was almost glad to leave. A new school, where no one would know his name or make assumptions as to what he did – it sounded like a dream come true to the tired teenager.

Two blondes and a castle later, and Akira was seriously considering just turning himself over to juvenile detention. So what if his father would disapprove? The man had something to say against almost everything Akira did. He didn’t study enough. He didn’t hang out with the right people. He didn’t wear the right clothes. Akira wasn’t the prodigal son he wanted, and that was that.

He just wanted to get away. The school was a pain, with the rumors he didn’t start and that weirdo teacher breathing down his neck, Akira was beginning to hate Shujin already, and he had literally just gotten there. Late.

“You will be okay.”

It was those four words, uttered in passing, that began the whole chain of events that so rapidly spun his already chaotic life even further out of control. He almost didn’t hear them. Perhaps he was not meant to. But he did, and having heard those words, his path had irrevocably been changed. Akira stopped mid-stride, turning his head to catch a glimpse of the owner of the soft voice.

In the three hours since he stepped foot into Shujin Academy (far too many hours late, Kawakami was quick to remind him), Akira had encountered nothing but weary glances and subtly muttered rumors. Though he had only arrived in the city two days ago, it was very clear that everyone already knew the truth of his past deeds. Or, what they thought was the truth, anyhow. Not one of them had stopped to question the reality presented to them. Not one had approached him with anything except trembling fear.

Until now.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Akira twirls a lock of hair between his fingers, grey eyes wrought with confusion.

The girl smiles. White hair adorns a face almost equally blanche. Long eyelashes flutter as she gives a polite bow. “You… will be… okay.” She whispers so quietly the words ghost over the edge of Akira’s conscience, almost flickering out of existence. He must strain to hear them over the chatter in the hallway. The way she speaks is slow, punctuated, almost as if the words are difficult for her to say and have to be forced out – yet they lose none of the softness for the effort. It’s the weirdest thing.

“Thank you,” Akira mutters in response, a small smile gracing his usually apathetic expression. His facial muscles groan at the oddity of the expression, and it reminds the boy just how long it has been since he last smiled. Not since before the incident that earned him his bad reputation, at least. And even then…

The bell rings.

As the crowd of students hurrying to their classes thickened around them, Akira makes a move to reach towards the strange girl with alabaster hair, but she is already but a flicker at the edge of his vision, headed down the hall. Akira’s hand drops. Still, even though she is gone, the smile does not fade from the boy’s face. Not even the weary looks of the passing students can take this warm moment of compassion away from him.

It reminds him why he hasn’t lost hope in humanity yet.

 

**4/11  
Nighttime**

Akira tries very hard to forget. The attic at Leblanc is dusty and smells a little of mold, but it’s the closest thing to home he has. He is more exhausted than he realized, and his limbs feel like they’re stuffed with cement when the teen finally drops backwards onto his bed. Yet still sleep eludes him.

So much has happened in the span of a single day. The meeting with Ryuji, the mistake he’s made in following the blonde down the so-called shortcut. The castle. Awakening to a power he doesn’t understand (doesn’t want to, he already has too much to deal with without some voodoo magic shtick). Before that, the female with pigtails in that teacher’s car, looking like she was screaming on the inside. Then there was Sojiro’s disappointed expression hidden behind feigned anger that made Akira’s guts twist inside in an all-too-familiar way (he was always the family disappointment, it seemed, no matter where he went). Then there was that freaky cat mascot thing, and…

That girl with white hair. Akira frowns as his mind struggles to remember the details of her appearance, but all it comes up with was golden eyes surrounded by white. The boy can’t claim he had the best memory, but the stress of the day has burned itself into his memory. Akira can remember everything, but the girl’s features eluded him. It feels unnatural. Like a distortion.

Akira tries not to think about it.

That night, his dreams are filled with blue walls and the rattle of chains.


	2. I hope you remember me tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira just wants to make it through the year, but no matter what he does, trouble seems to follow him.

**4/12  
Morning**

This time, Akira makes it to school on time. The castle from the day before is nowhere in sight, and Akira breathes a sigh of relief when he walks through the front door and into the crowded locker area. It seems it was all a dream after all.

He resolves to be an honest student. When Mr. Ushimaru asks a question during the morning Social Studies class, Akira even manages to give the correct answer (though he wonders how the question had anything to do with what they were studying). Judging by the excited whispers of the students around him, he’s managed to impress them with his knowledge (it was a lucky guess, but they don’t need to know that).

He turns his head when he sees Kamoshida talking to the twin-tailed girl from yesterday. It’s none of his business, anyways.

(He ignores the bitter feeling this leaves in his mouth).

 

**4/12  
After School**

When Ryuji catches him outside the school gate at the end of the day, Akira is fully intent on ignoring him and keep walking. Kawakami warned him against associating with the blond, and she is right - Akira doesn’t need any more trouble right now. He just wants to keep his head low and live through the year.

And yet…

_“Come on! Hurry up and go!”_

Ryuji’s pained scream echoes in Akira’s ears. Beaten down to the lowest point, surrounded by enemies, and yet Ryuji’s first words were not a plea for mercy or forgiveness, but rather a command for a random stranger to save his hide, even at the expense of Ryuji’s own life. It was an admirable act.

Akira stops.

“Are you waiting to ambush me?” It’s meant as a joke, but Akira’s forgotten how to make his voice sound anything but deadpan.

“Ambush…? C’mon, don’t say shit like that.” Ryuji rubs the back of his head in something akin to embarrassment. “I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday. I tried tellin’ myself it was all just a dream… but I couldn’t do it.”

 _Me too_ , Akira thinks to himself. _Except you’re not the one who grew a mask on his face then got set on magic fire._

“I can’t act like nothing happened. It’s all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all.”

Akira is really tempted to ask exactly what Ryuji’s deal with Kamoshida is. Oh, sure, he’s heard plenty of rumors even in the just-over-24-hours he’s been around, but nothing he’s heard was worth the pure, unbridled rage that was so poorly kept in check in Ryuji’s eyes. Whatever the man had done, it must have been horrible. And somehow, Akira can absolutely believe that man to be capable of an act that despicable.

“So, you in?” Ryuji’s voice is full of hope.

 Hope that Akira is quick to dash. “Absolutely not.” There is cold finality in his tone. He wants nothing to do with whatever happened yesterday, whatever that long-nosed man in his recurrent dreams talked about, or anything at all really unless it involved himself and a year spent _not_ getting into trouble.

 But Ryuji is insistent, and Akira doesn’t have the energy or the desire to fight back on the matter. The blond doesn’t seem like a bad guy, either, and he was right when he said their circumstances were similar. It wouldn’t hurt to have one person in this whole school who doesn’t think him a maniac. _Just one round_ , Akira tell himself. _We will find nothing, and the matter will be settled_.

It’s three rounds before Ryuji hangs his head low and lets out a frustrated groan. “Did we make a wrong turn somewhere? Or maybe it’s smaller than we think it is? I even checked on my phone, but… Wait.” Ryuji turns to Akira, who at this point is just about ready to make a run for it. “That reminds me, didn’t you have a navigation app or something turned on? I heard something that sounded like one coming from your phone?”

A navigation app? Now that catches Akira’s attention. He remembers fiddling with his phone on the way, but only to once again delete that weird app that kept reappearing on his phone with the persistency of an overbearing mother (and Akira knows all about overbearing mothers).

“Let me see your phone for a bit.”

Akira hands it over. And just like that, they are at the castle again. Akira’s clothes change instantly, but the mask doesn’t stick this time, and when he goes to take it off it comes away without blood.

“Hey!” A voice comes from around the corner. “Stop making a commotion.”

The monster cat from yesterday makes an appearance, and at this point Akira is forced to fully abandon the notion that this is some kind of bizarre fever dream, or mass hypnosis, or Ryuji slipping him something illegal to mess with him (okay, it could still be the latter, but Ryuji seemed more messed with in this scenario than Akira himself, so it was unlikely).

There is something endearing in the way Ryuji throws himself head-first into this investigation. Without powers, with no ability to defend himself, he clearly should have been the first to want to get out of here – but he doesn’t. Instead, the blond plows deeper into the castle’s depths, fueled by his anger and the desire to save the slaves. Akira smiles beside himself. Perhaps they are more similar than either of them realized.

“He really is passionate about this,” A voice echoes Akira’s thoughts from behind him. The boy’s heart jumps in his chest all the way up to his throat, and when he turns, he fully expects to be stabbed straight in the face by a shadow. Instead, he is met with a girl.

They are in the dungeon of Kamoshida’s palace, with Shadows swarming around every corner. The cells are full of slaves in volleyball jerseys, all bruised and beaten to the point of near-death. Ryuji is too busy trying to memorize the faces of each and everyone one of them to pay attention, and even Morgana seems none the wiser to the stranger’s presence.

It takes a whole two beats, but Akira remembers.

“You’re that girl. From before,” He points out absent-mindedly. The girl’s head is obscured by a too-large cat-eared hoodie, but the side braid that extends from beneath is the same alabaster he’s seen before. So are the eyes, two large pools of liquid gold on a face so pale it’s almost transparent.

 Those eyes are even wider now as she turns, head quirked to the side in what appears to be a shocked expression. Akira doesn’t understand why she looks so surprised at being heard – she is standing not even a foot away from him on the narrow ledge. Then she smiles, but there is bitterness around the edges. “Ah. So you remember. Thank you.” Akira’s suspicions are confirmed when the girl speaks. Absent is the previous forced pronunciation, but the voice is the same, quiet as it is.

“What are you doing here? It’s dangerous.” He gestures vaguely into the darkness lurking at the edge of vision, where Shadows undoubtedly roam.

The girl looks saddened. “It’s okay. They don’t notice me.”

“Hey, Akira!” Ryuji calls out, and the black-haired boy turns to see the blond waving at him from down the ledge. “Let’s go! What are you doin’ all the way over there?”

When Akira turns back, the girl is already on the other side of the chasm. “Wait!” He calls after her, “You never told me who you are.”

She smiles, and he can see the effort she puts into keeping her expression from devolving into a pained grimace. “My name is Nico. I hope you remember me tomorrow.” She takes a step backwards, closer to the devouring darkness.

The comment raises more questions than it answers. Akira opens his mouth to ask them, but-

“There you are. You had me worried, y’know.” Clearly Ryuji grew tired of waiting for Akira to rejoin him, as he claps a hand on the ravenette’s shoulder. He and Morgana both stand by his side now. “Who you talkin' to?”

When Akira looks again, he is met with only the darkness of the dungeons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Akira introspection, because obviously with him being the main character and the player-insert, we don't get a lot of that.  
> The poor boy just wants to be a normal kid for a year, but noooooo, he can't have that clearly.


	3. Full of purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although Akira does not find what he is seeking, he does find a new sense of purpose in the resolve of his new delinquent friend.

**4/13  
Morning**

The school is full of red. Everyone is wearing their PE uniforms, Akira included, and it’s like the school is on fire – and it may as well be, with the amount of juicy gossip floating about. ‘Sakamoto and the transfer student’ is a popular topic of conversation, with quiet murmurs of rumor about Mr. Kamoshida sprinkled in here and there. Amidst it all, Akira even manages to pick out bits and pieces concerning the pigtail-wearing girl in his class.

They call her a slut, but the name doesn’t quite stick in his mind. The haunted look in her eyes as she got into Kamoshida’s car keeps surfacing in Akira’s mind, and he is painfully reminded that rumors are usually not true. After all, if they were, he ought to start bringing a knife to school.

Ryuji is as relentless in his pursuit of Kamoshida’s victims as he is in the castle. Akira can’t quite say the same. As they make it through the day, he can’t help but search around, his eyes scanning the dark-haired students for any sign of that familiar ivory. He remembers her name, just barely.

He didn’t when he woke up that morning. The second foray into the castle was clear in his mind, and yet the short encounter in the dungeons was groggy, washed out like an old photograph thrown out into the rain. The features of the girl’s face swam around, to the point where her white hair and yellow eyes are the only things he remembers as Akira enters the school.

“ _My name is Nico. I hope you remember me tomorrow_.” She sounded so sad.

He’s pretty sure she was wearing a Shujin Academy uniform, though. Blurry memory aside, the signature plaid skirt was likely not found anywhere else in this area. This meant that she was at school somewhere. Probably.

It can’t be too hard to find a single white-haired girl, right?

…Right?

**4/13  
After School**

There is a small twinge of guilt in Akira’s chest as he watches Ryuji slump over in defeat. A whole day of running around searching for clues, and all they have is many tight-lipped volleyball team members and a very frustrated Takamaki. Akira wants to say he’s done all he can for his friend, but that would be a lie. His mind has been elsewhere the entire while, with most of his effort going towards searching for the white-haired student as subtly as he could manage.

His investigation on that end hasn’t been successful either. This brothers Akira more than the failure to acquire a lead on Kamoshida.

He’s asked everyone who would talk to him, eavesdropped on those who would not. Once or twice he thought he’d seen her at the edges of his vision, but when he would turn, he would be met with the same old hallways filled with people giving him weary looks. Every time.

“Ryuji,” It’s not until after Takamaki has stormed off that Akira ventures to ask. The two of them are in the little area of the courtyard where no one seems to go except to get a soda from the vending machine, and although people throw weary looks their way as they pass, no one bothers the two outcasts. “Is there a girl with white hair in your class?”

The blond delinquent raises his head to give his friend a questioning look. “White hair? Why? You think she knows somethin’?”

Ah. Akira should have known better than to bring this up now, when all Ryuji can think about is the torture of those poor sods from the Castle, and the fact that no one wants to speak up about it. He quickly denies such a possibility, stating instead that he saw her before, and she was nice. It’s not a lie.

Ryuji’s shoulder’s slump again, and the guilt in Akira’s stomach burns ten times worse. “Iunno, man, I ain’t seen anyone like that around here. Are you sure she goes to Shujin?”

He isn’t, but Akira isn’t about to let Ryuji know that.

“Why do you even wanna find this girl so bad?”

Good question. Why _does_ he search for her? Akira doesn’t know, nor does he have a way to put into words the way the loneliness in her eyes made him want to reach out back at Kamoshida’s dungeon, and even before that, in the crowded hall on his first day. It’s the same kind of hollowness behind a meek façade that Akira has come to see every time he looks in the mirror.

Despair. Isolation. No chance of escape from the circumstances of your fate.

Things that make Akira scream on the inside. He thinks Ryuji might understand, if only he could find the words to express what he feels. But Akira has never been the most eloquent of people, and so the words just form a clot in his throat that threatens to choke him.

He changes the subject instead. “One of the volleyball team members mentioned a guy named Mishima. I think he’s in my class. The really beat-up looking one with a meek voice?”

It’s enough of a distraction to immediately get Ryuji’s mind off the topic. Akira follows as the blond charges off to find this Mishima (and boy, does he look even worse than the last time Akira saw him). And although they find the string of truth amidst the sea of lies, they also find that hopelessness has already settled over it like a thick layer of dust.

Mishima’s eyes are hollow and tired as he follows Kamoshida towards the practice building. It’s a look Akira won’t soon forget – the same look of that woman in the back alley that fateful day when the concept of justice was forever shattered in his mind.

“Are you going to give up?” Akira asks as he and Ryuji file out of the school along with the other students. The blond has been uncharacteristically quiet since the encounter with Mishima and the PE teacher, and it’s becoming worrisome.

“Hell no!” The force of those words throws Akira off. When he turns his head to look, he is met with eyes that are full of rebellious fire. “Tomorrow, I will try to get the others to see things straight again. It’s the only thing I can think of!”

Akira nods. A little voice at the back of his minds notes that this is exactly the kind of behavior he was told time and time again to avoid, but he squashes that voice with a big hammer. It feels more satisfying than he would like to admit. The two boys make friends to meet again tomorrow, and for the first time in a while Akira’s grey eyes are full of purpose as he rides the train home.

 

A white-haired girl peeks her head around the corner as the ravenette and his friend descend the steps to the subway station. Her smile is sad as she closes her eyes in a silent prayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still slowly building up to where the real shenanigans can begin.


End file.
